Constipation Archives

withholding

Where do i begin-My daughter has been having problems with going to the toilet for over seven years she is almost ten years old.She is a beautiful,bubbly,bright child who i realise has not only a physical problem but a psychological problem.It all started with a painful incident when she was 2 years old and has carried on and on.She seems to control the urge to go and waits for it to pass,she also only lets part of the bowel movement out at times.Sometimes if she feels like it she can go she will othertimes she "Can't be bothered"Ihave tried drugs,getting cross,ignoring her,providing rewards,withholding treats and I am at a loss in knowing what to do next.It has affected all our lives my husband and 11 year old son too.I feel we have a loving caring home and at times I feel as if she will never get better.She is currently taking lactulose,she is physically active,drinks plenty and eats a healthy varied diet.When she was on stronger drugs to encourage bowel movements she still managed to hold the stool as well as the drugs making her uncomfortable and on occasion she was sick with them.Any advice would be gratefully appreciated.We are visiting our local bowel clinic this week for the first time but I can't imagine it will help.I think the problem is mainly psychological

Follow Ups:

• Re: withholding at age 10. (Archive.) Walt Stoll 07:24:27 5/17/03 (0)
• Re: withholding Been there 09:23:25 5/16/03 (0)

In Reply to: withholding posted by barbara gadsden on May 16, 2003 at 07:45:37:

Please read the Stool Withholding Protocol, which is ARticle # 23 in the Articles on Health section of this website. It worked for my child who was the same age and had a bad case of it. We followed Dr. Stoll's advice in every way and it fixed the problem. The psychological component disappeared when the problem got fixed; she immediately became happy and more confident. Interesting that this seems to happen so often in girls. It's also aggravating that we went to 2 pediatricians, a gastroenterologist and an internist and nobody could help. A chiropractor was the only one who agreed wholeheartedly with Dr. Stoll's description of Leaky Gut Syndrome and the fact that she had it. She strongly urged us to submit a stool sample which confirmed an off-the-scale intestinal bacterial dysbiosis problem and a parasite infection. We treated it from there with probiotics, eliminating dairy, adding a lot of water to her diet and of course, the Kondremul and psyllium. We haven't done a follow-up stool test but we assume it's okay now because she's regular. Pooping once a day or close to it is enough, in my opinion. Good luck to you and please keep us posted.

In Reply to: withholding posted by barbara gadsden on May 16, 2003 at 07:45:37:

Hi, Barbara.

Listen to Been There.

My next suggestion is that you need to not have any more idea of when or how she goes than you do of that of the gentleman next door. She has to be getting some kind of reward for this behavior and ANY attention she gets from anyone about this will help reinforce the behavior. When you stop paying attention you will find that she will come to you about it. You simply have to ignore this to the best of your ability.

Consider the ridiculous scenario of her calling you, from whereever she lives at the age of 30, telling you about her bowel habits and complaining?!

Just remember that, once this attention device is gone, she will have to find another one. Her psychological problem will insist upon it. You will have to deal with that then.

Let us know how you and she do.

Walt